Illusion: Damage Control
by shadowblade-tara
Summary: AU: Loki has been in danger, hurt, all this time, and Thor is only just now finding out about it. There is gonna be hell to pay once the Avengers learn that Loki was never their enemy, but someone was wearing Loki's face . . . .


Avengers © Marvel.

AN: For those of you who have read the other Illusion stories, this has the same premise. I just wanted to see what would happen if Thor didn't realize the truth until after the events of Avengers.

**Illusion: Damage Control**

The Earth was saved, Loki was safely locked away, and in Tony Stark's opinion, everything was going just well. It had been a few days, and there was talk of sending Loki back to Asgard along with the Tessaract. Tony was looking forward to a bit of normal in his life again. No matter how much fun he had being Iron Man, he much preferred it when the fate of the world wasn't at stake.

Currently they sat in Fury's office. Natasha and Clint sat closest to the door while the rest gathered around Fury's desk. Only Thor seemed completely disinterested in the proceedings. He was watching the security screen that showed Loki sleeping peacefully in his cell.

"Agent Romanov – "

"How did Loki introduce himself?"

Thor's abrupt question cut over whatever orders Fury was about to give Natasha. He turned his attention to Thor. "What do you mean?"

"When Loki first appeared on Earth," Thor said, "what words did he use to introduce himself?"

Everyone exchanged looks. Fury shrugged. "He said he was Loki. I don't remember the exact wording. Wasn't paying that much attention, to be honest."

"'I am Loki, of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose.'" Clint's quiet voice answered Thor. "It's the last thing I remember clearly right after he used that damn stick on me. Why? You think it means something?"

"It means a lot." Thor scowled at the screen. "I've mentioned before that this is not like the brother I grew up with. I assumed something had happened to break him, but – well, even at his worse, Loki was never that pretentious. That sounds more like – " He cut himself off, eyes widening as furious comprehension crossed his face. Suddenly he stood and ran from the room. Tony was quick to follow, Banner on his heels.

Stark recognized that look. Thor had just had an epiphany.

They followed him all the way down to the cell. Instead of stopping him or following him inside, they simply waited and listened, just in case they were needed. Banner shot Stark a questioning look. Stark merely shrugged.

Loki woke and sat up, a small smirk on his face. "I was wondering when you would – "

"What have you done?" Thor demanded.

"You must have a short memory. You were there – you know."

Stark knew Thor was going to snap a second before he actually did. He watched as the thunder god grabbed the trickster by the collar and slammed him into the cell wall with enough force to crack the concrete. Loki gasped. "Are you mad?"

Thor's face was inches away from Loki's, their noses practically touching. "I will ask this one more time – _what have you done with my brother, Lynn!"_

Banner stiffened. "Lynn?"

"That's not Loki." Stark realized. "It never was."

Banner's voice was almost objective when he spoke, with a faint hint of awe in it. "Thor is gonna be so _pissed_." he murmured. Stark simply nodded agreement. This smack-down was going to be epic.

Loki/Lynn simply smirked. "Finally figured it out, have you? Tell me, what gave it away? I thought it was a stellar performance."

Thor growled. "You forget – I know everything about Loki. It was only a matter of time before you screwed up. Where is my brother!"

Lynn's smirk just grew. "Back on Asgard, with the Chitauri – who knows? I sent him off, I know not where." His head snapped to the side as Thor viciously punched him across the face. Instead of cowering, like Stark would have been doing in his position, he simply started to laugh. "You should have figured it out sooner, Odinson! By now he's been alone for almost a year, without food, without water – tell me, how long can the trickster last? I'm sure he's still alive, but what _ condition_ he's in – "

With a growl, Thor punched him again and let him fall to the ground. He stormed out of the cell. Stark and Banner were quick to catch up with him.

"What do you want us to do?" Banner asked.

"Inform Fury." Thor bit out. "I will return shortly."

"With Loki, I hope." Stark supplied.

Thor almost faltered, but he quickly recovered. "Yes. With Loki."

/-/

Not for the first time, Thor was glad Loki had shown him some of his secret paths around the worlds. He didn't want to call on Odin to bring him back. Odin had written Loki off long ago, Thor knew, and he wasn't entirely sure his father would send him back to Earth once he got home. So he took a backdoor Loki had shown him once and showed up near the back of the palace. No doubt Heimdall already knew he was there, but then, Heimdall probably already knew what Thor had learned. He wouldn't try to stop him.

Thor made his way quickly through the palace, taking great care to avoid everyone. He did not want to be seen. People would not question his presence, but they would question why he was heading towards the lowest dungeons, where not even Heimdall could see. He threw open the massive door and peered inside. There were at least fifty cells down here, and he really didn't have time to search them all. He wasn't the patient type under normal circumstances.

"LOKI!"

"Brother!"

The response was so faint Thor wasn't entirely sure he had heard it. The sound of a wracking cough echoed down the hall, and this time Thor was able to pinpoint where it was. He charged down the hall, skidding to a halt when he went past the appropriate cell. There was Loki, _his Loki_, stripped to his waist and chained to the wall and coughing hard enough to make Thor wince. With one swift motion, he raised his hammer and struck the chains hard. They shattered, and Loki fell forward with a small gasp. Thor caught him before he could hit the ground.

"It will be okay, you'll be fine, please be fine." He was only vaguely aware he was babbling, trying to assess the full extent of Loki's injuries, which was hard to do when he was shaking like a leaf. Still, Loki appeared to be intact. Bruised, dirty, breath rattling in his chest, but intact. He gently lifted the smaller man to his feet. "Can you travel?"

Loki smiled. "I can do anything to get out of this hell-hole." He paused. "Thor, it wasn't – "

"I know." Thor cut him off. He pulled Loki into a tight embrace. "I am so sorry, Loki. I should have seen, I should have known it wasn't – " He cut himself off. Loki was trembling worse than he was. They had to get out of Asgard and back to Earth.

Slowly, shakily, they made it back to the secret path.

/-/

Thor had given him some idea of what to expect once they got back to Earth. However, he truly was not expecting a dark-skinned man with an eye patch to storm up to them, flanked by a handful of others. He fought the urge to hide behind his much larger brother. At least Thor knew who these people were and what they would do. The man with the eye patch approached them.

"So I'm guessing this is the real Loki."

Thor nodded. "This is my brother. Not the man in your cell."

"Right. He changed not too long ago. Doesn't look like Loki anymore. I'm guessing you had something to do with that." He looked Loki over, and something seemed to change in the man's stern face. "Clean him up. Banner – see what you can do about those cuts." The one he labeled Banner nodded and followed Thor into the building. Loki felt the first drops of rain hit him as they went inside.

Another man followed them. Banner grinned and fell back to walk beside him. "Curiosity killed the cat, Stark."

"Satisfaction brought him back." Stark retorted gamely. "Besides, it's not like Fury made a SHIELD announcement or something. I'd rather not have an incident."

"You really think he looks like he could hurt someone?"

"If he thinks they'll hurt him, yes." Stark's voice turned dark. "I've been there, Bruce. I don't doubt Thor can reel Loki in if the worst happens, but I want to be there if someone tries to start something."

Banner grinned. "You like Loki."

Stark laughed. "Hey, if half of what I've learned about him through Lynn is true, he's a badass."

Thor looked back at them. "A badass?"

"It means he's awesome." Stark grinned. "It's a good thing, Thor." Thor chuckled. Loki couldn't hide the small smile on his face. Maybe this place wouldn't be too bad after all.

/-/

It wasn't until after Loki had been bathed and patched up and had explained the situation to everyone that he finally found himself alone. Fury had put him in a room right next to Thor's, although Loki doubted his brother would stay in there for very long. He would wait until everyone had fallen asleep and then make his way into his room and stay with him for the night. Thor would protect him from the nightmares, and Loki would return the favor. That's what brothers did.

So when his door opened, he was actually surprised to see Stark walk in with a paper bag in his hand. The scientist smiled at him. "Good. You're awake." He handed the bag to him. Loki looked inside.

"What is this?"

"All American cheeseburger." Stark said with a small grin. "Best soul-food in the world." He sat down on the bed next to him. "Go ahead, eat it. It's not poisoned, I promise."

Loki chuckled. "Old habits die hard, I'm afraid." He unwrapped the package and took a bite. Stark was right – it tasted wonderful. Luckily, there was two in the bag. He looked up at Stark. "Thank you."

Stark waved a hand dismissively. "Hey, been there, done that, got the arc reactor to prove it – a good cheeseburger is how I convinced myself I was home."

Loki stilled. "You – you've been – "

"Yeah. Betrayed, tortured, the works. Got myself out, though. You're lucky. You have Thor."

"You weren't?"

"Nope. The person I would have gone to was the same person who betrayed me." Tony stood up. "I'll jet and let Thor do his big-brother thing. I just wanted to let you know – in case you can't talk to Thor about what happened – you can talk to me." He smiled faintly. "Like I said – been there, done that. I can help. Beyond cheeseburgers, even."

Loki chuckled. "Thank you."

"Not a problem." He left just as Thor arrived. Wordlessly, Loki handed him the second cheeseburger. Thor smiled and waved it away.

"You're the stick, Loki, you eat it."

Loki laughed, but the sound quickly turned into choked sobs. Thor reached out and hugged him, taking care not to squeeze too hard. "It's okay, brother, you're safe now. I swear to you, you're safe." He pulled back just enough to look down at Loki. "How long?"

"Just after your banishment, when Odin fell asleep." Loki murmured. "I just found out what I was. I was shaken, and I went to Lynn for help." Loki pulled back and offered a tight smile. "He always did say I should be king instead of you."

Thor winced. "That means that everything that has happened from the beginning – "

"Was never my doing. I never wanted to hurt you, brother." Loki paused. "Or at least, not like that."

Thor chuckled faintly. "We wouldn't be brothers if we never entertained the thought of killing each other at least once in our lifetimes." he teases lightly. He motioned towards the cheeseburger. "Eat it, Loki. You look like a skeleton."

Loki took another bite. "And you're still the bossy muscle as always."

"Don't ever forget it."

Outside the room, Clint and Natasha stood guard. Natasha chuckled. "They have funny ways of saying 'I love you'." she whispered. Clint nodded. She tilted her head to the side. "Clint. That's not the man that hurt you."

"I know. But he looks like him." Clint offered her a tight smile. "It's just going to take a while before I can see him without seeing Lynn. That's all."

Natasha touched his arm briefly. "That's okay. You've both been traumatized. Things will heal though."

Clint nodded again. "They will. Come on, let's get out of here before Thor drop-kicks us back to our rooms." Natasha just offered him a rare grin as she followed him away. Clint glanced over his shoulder one last time.

He knew what it was like to have your identity stolen from you. In the morning, he would offer his own services to helping Loki get used to Earth. Maybe Loki could help him settle his own mind as well.

Maybe.

/-/

AN: So this has been sitting on my computer, gathering dust, until Tamuril2 messaged me requesting a very similar storyline. I hope this is up to your expectation, dear reader! I hope you all enjoy and it's not too confusing.


End file.
